Category: John Steinbecck

I first heard of Positano from Alberto Moravia. It was very hot in Rome. He said, “Why don’t you go down to Positano on the Amalfi Coast? It is one of the fine places of Italy”. Later John McKnight of United States Information Service told me the same thing. He had spent a year there working on a book. Half a dozen people echoed this as well. Positano kind of moved in on us and we found ourselves driving down to Naples on our way.” So wrote John Steinbeck for Harper’s Bazaar, May 1953.

Italy has long been a dream destination for so many. The art, history, endless sights, and incredible food and drink make Italy the favored destination of millions of travelers each and every year.

If you are headed on a vacation to one of Italy’s most favored seaside owns in Positano, it’s likely you’ll be driving in some form or the other, whether you are driving yourself, maybe down from Rome, or you’ve hired a driver to take you there, or you may be one of many arriving on one of the Blue Cita Local Buses driven by the world’s best nus drivers. If so, you will be starting in Sorrento. Whether in a car or one of those blue buses, once you cross over the Sorrentino peninsula from the Gulf of Naples to the Gulf of Salerno, the jaw-dropping beauty of the Amalfi Drive begins to unfold. The 15- kilometer stretch from Sorrento to Positano includes a dramatic succession of curves, sheer cliffs, rocky twists and the most beautiful panoramic vistas you are likely to see in your entire lifetime. This section of the road, known as via Nastro Azzurro, the “Blue Ribbon” culminates with Positano.

The coastal drive between Positano and Amalfi delivers 10 miles of picture-perfect vistas that combine brilliant sea views with the dramatic jaggedness of the coastline. The colors of Azure Blue, bright yellows, pinks, greens, and every spectrum of the Rainbow are stunningly brilliant.

When you arrive in Positano you will be greeted by colorfully white and pastel painted buildings that are filled with vibrant Purple Bougainvillea plants pouring generously over their walls. The town is a former fishing village has been turned into a sort of La Dolce Vita playground. Though the entire coast is absolutely gorgeous, Positano is arguably the most alluring gem of all.

The romance and beauty of the seaside town of this hamlet on the Amalfi Coast makes for a jewel of vacation and one you shall always cherish. It’s most assured you shall never forget. When traveling to Positano you immediately notice its abundance of natural beauty and drama of rugged cliffs that shoot straight up out the blue sea below. This sights are sure to grab you with each and every turn on this most famous road. You arrive and immediately notice the intoxicating aroma of Jasmine that fills the air of this charming seaside town. It’s quite heady, especially for the eyes.

“Positano bites deep. It is a dream place that isn’t quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone,” author John Steinbeck stated in an article of Positano in the May 1953 issue of Harper’s Bazaar.

Steinbeck describes the terror of winding through the Amalfi Coast on a road that “corkscrewed on the edge of nothing”, clutched in his wife’s arms and “weeping hysterically”. The road to Positano is barely wider than a car and the journey has become no less perilous. With the ocean licking at you on one side and the mountains cradling you on the other, you spiral down past hordes of scooters that buzz like angry mosquitoes.

Although Positano has lost its status as a secret known to a select few (myself since 1985), it still remains a gem of a place, large crowds or not, Positano is still impresses.

Excerpt from,

POSITANO CAPRI THE AMALFI COAST

Daniel Bellino Zwicke

A New Book on Positano by Best Selling Author Daniel Bellino Zwicke is in the works. Daniel has given us a little sneak preview. The book, Daniel has told us is about a long love of his, the town of Positano that Daniel says he first went to in the Summer of 1985, long before the mass throngs who go there these days, had ever even heard of the place, Daniel was there soaking in the Sun, swimming its waters, and sipping Campari at the once highly popular Bar DeMartino (sadly closed).

Daniel has had a Love Affair with Positano, Capri, and the Amalfi Coast ever since that first time way back in 85. The book will be quite unique, as it will be comprise stories of Daniel’s adventures on Capri and the Coast, and will be part guide book and cookbook of the areas cuisine as well. The book won’t be in a guide book format, but the information one will get, will be in the stories told by Daniel. It all promises to be a wonderful new way to learn of Positano and the surrounding area in a way that has yet to be done.

Positano and the Amalfi Coast, along with Capri, Ischia, and a Napoli has become one of the World’s most prized vacation destinations for millions who are sure to eat up Daniel’s forthcoming new book in more ways than one. As for us, we can’t wait.